This 2003 file photo shows a shelf of videos at Waterfront Video in Burlington. The business is closing on May 1. / Free Press file

Written by

Dan D’Ambrosio

Free Press Staff Writer

Seth Jarvis has worked for Burlington’s Waterfront Video on Shelburne Road since it was still on the waterfront, joining the video rental business a few months after it opened on Battery Street in 1996. Now, he’ll be out of work, along with five other employees, as of May 1, when the business closes for good.

“I have a healthy love of movies, so being a movie geek, I was drawn to the video store, first as a customer, then as the ideal job match for me,” Jarvis said Monday.

The primary factor in the store’s closing, Jarvis said, was the death in September of its owner, Murray Self. Jarvis acknowledged, however, that there have been “a lot of changes” in the video rental business, with the emergence of Internet companies such as Netflix that stream videos directly to customers’ televisions and other devices.

With the recent demise of Blockbuster Video in Essex and the upcoming closing of Waterfront, Passport Video in Williston and Hollywood Video in South Burlington are among the last video stores standing in the Burlington area.

“While we were able to maintain our niche in the changing landscape, without the owner it became more difficult,” Jarvis said. “We have explored every option we could think of trying to figure out how best to make the store survive. Ultimately, the cards weren’t in our favor.”

Waterfront Video survived as long as it did because Self “pretty much carried the store” to maintain it as a community resource, Jarvis said, and because of a loyal customer base.

“The idea of renting local is very strong,” Jarvis said. “We have a lot of very loyal customers who stayed with us even when other alternatives popped up.”

Waterfront has close to 30,000 titles, Jarvis said, covering the range from mainstream movies to the more obscure titles from overseas. The entire collection is being sold to a “small, locally owned family business” that Jarvis declined to name. He said he was unsure whether that business would continue to rent the videos.

Jarvis, 37, is unsure what he will do next for his career.

“We would like to say just how appreciative we are of the years of support and loyalty the community has shown to us,” Jarvis said.